The planes and the shows

As it did for many transplants from the East, watching my first Starlight show left me speechless — and fearing deafness. Planes roared through the performances on their descent to Lindbergh Field. In response, actors “froze” in place while the aerial intrusions passed by, an iconic motif locals had come to tolerate, even enjoy, but which had me covering my ears since I could not in good conscience flee for the exits.

At the same time, the quality of the interrupted performance — it was “No, No, Nannette” with terrific tap dancing — was surprisingly high. So, following critics’ tradition here, I counted the planes when I reviewed there: 49 the year I stopped counting.

The artistic management attempted to deal with the planes in two ways — first by adding indoor shows at the Civic Theatre, and later, by dispensing with the stop-motion. The action and singing continued right on through the noise.

The company’s repertory always reflected both the times and the largely staid taste of its audience. Producing began in 1946 with Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” and popular operettas: “Naughty Marietta,” “The Pirates of Penzance” (twice), “The Merry Widow” and “Countess Maritza.” The 1950s brought the Golden Age musicals of Irving Berlin and Rodgers & Hammerstein — “South Pacific” (seven times), “Oklahoma” (four times), “Call Me, Madam” (twice), “The King and I,” and every other Broadway biggie.

For three generations, hundreds of actors and nearly all of the city’s dancers cut their stage teeth on Starlight’s outdoor stage, where some 136 different musicals were seen in multiple productions. In 1985, Starlight took what it considered a risk and offered a very good staging of the boundary-pushing “A Chorus Line,” and after the millennium, there was an excellent staging of Stephen Sondheim’s gore-fest “Sweeney Todd” and even the acerbic “Urinetown.”

News that Starlight Musical Theatre is in deep financial trouble came as no surprise to theater watchers here. The miracle is that Starlight, aka San Diego Civic Light Opera, held on without changing its business practices for as long as it did. The once-thriving producing organization, founded 65 years ago, may not be terminal, but it’s on life support — the protective ventilator of Chapter 11 reorganization under the bankruptcy code.

As part of that reorganization, Starlight must create a plan to address an accumulated debt of at least $1 million, according to the organization’s 2009 federal tax filing, the most recent available for the nonprofit. A highly public portion of its debt — $15,469 plus interest — is owed to members of IATSE, a New York-based union of stagehands and stage managers that has filed suit in federal court for missed pension fund payments.

The company owes some payroll taxes, as well. A supplement to the 2009 IRA filing lists more than $500,000 ﻿in loans from board members, including $336,000 from Cinda Lucas, known as The Starlight Lady during her tenure as board president, $27,000 from current board president Kimberley Layton, and varying amounts between $10,000 and $63,000 from other board members. Some of those loans may have been forgiven; none was in default, yet all were approved by the board without written contracts.